Notice No. 10/2010 - 15 February 2010

VCE WRITTEN EXAMINATION CENTRES and SUPERVISORS

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For Principal/Director, VCE Coordinator

BACKGROUND

VCE Providers must meet the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) requirements for conducting VCE examinations as outlined in the 2010 VCE Written Examination Centre Agreement form (enclosed) and in this memorandum. A glossary of relevant terms is printed on page 7 of this memorandum.

Schools are responsible for ensuring that all their home students are appropriately accommodated and correctly supervised for ALL of their examinations, even when those students undertake some studies at other schools, e.g., Distance Education Centre Victoria, VET Providers, the Victorian School of Languages, other single LOTE providers and where the assessing school for a study is different from the home school.

The enclosed forms relate to the establishment of these centres and the appointment of supervisors.

Examination centres are established by schools and approved by the VCAA.
All examination centres, with the exception of those located interstate and overseas, will have a host school.
When two or more schools combine, the host school will be the school where the examination centre is located or the nominated school coordinating the arrangements for a centre which is located at a site external to the school.

Principals appoint supervisors subject to the conditions set out by the VCAA and under employment procedures established by the School Council or School Board. It is advisable that Supervisors have a current police records check. It is further recommended that principals ensure their employment practices for supervisors comply with the Working with Children Act 2005. For more information on this matter visit www.justice.vic.gov.au or call the WWCC information line on 1300 652 879.

 

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ACTION REQUIRED

All VCE Providers must complete the following forms:

  1. VCE Written Examination Centre Agreement Form
  2. 2010 GAT and VCE Examination Centre(s)                        (Yellow Form)
  3. 2010 GAT and VCE Examination Supervisors                     (Green Form)

Please arrange for the above forms to be completed and returned by mail in the enclosed white envelope, addressed “Private & Confidential, Attention: Maria Fragale” to the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority no later than Friday 5 March 2010.

Forms must be returned even if you are confirming the arrangements used in 2009. Changes to studies offered at your school and actual numbers of students enrolled need not be included on the 2010 GAT and VCE Examinations Centre(s) form. This information will be collected from your enrolment data entered on VASS.

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CONTACTS 

Any enquiries regarding examination centres and/or the appointment of supervisors should be directed to

Heidi Reiter on (03) 9225 2253 or Maria Fragale on (03) 9225 2255.

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COMPLETING THE ATTACHED FORMS

 

1.VCE WRITTEN EXAMINATION CENTRE AGREEMENT FORM

Principals must sign the VCE Written Examination Centre Agreement form to certify that they will comply with and be responsible for all VCAA security requirements for administering and conducting VCE written examinations.  The management of these requirements may be delegated, but the principal must sign to certify that the VCAA’s requirements and procedures will be followed.

This form must be signed and returned to the VCAA by Friday 5 March.


2.2010 GAT and VCE EXAMINATION CENTRE(S) (Yellow Form)

All schools must complete this form and return it to the VCAA by Friday 5 March.

The form is divided into two main sections:

  1.  2010 General Achievement Test Centres / June – 2010 VCE Examination Centres and
  2. October/November – 2010 VCE Examination Centres and should be completed as follows:

Section A To be completed by all schools.

Section A must be completed and returned even if confirming the arrangements as printed onthe 2009 School's Associated and Combined Centres report, which is enclosed.
The studies and actual number of students enrolled are not relevant, the correct 2010 enrolment information will be collected from VASS.

 

Section B Has been divided into 2 parts.

Section B1 to be completed if:

  •   arranging with another school(s) to combine for one or more examinations

Section B2 to be completed if:

  •   transferring one or more examinations to your associated centre

 

Section C  To be completed only if individual student(s) are being transferred to another centre.

If you are confirming previous year’s arrangements and/or completing Section B1 and/or Section C, you must also complete the ‘Approval to combine / transfer for external examinations’ application form.


 

Approval to Combine/Transfer External Examinations Centre Form (Inside the memorandum)

The ‘Approval to combine/transfer for external examinations’ form must be completed if:

  1. your school wishes to make arrangements to combine with another school(s) for a study(s), and/or
  2. you are requesting the previous year’s arrangements with another school(s) to continue, and/or
  3. you wish to transfer individual student(s) to another centre.

Failure to complete this form will mean changes will not occur and previous year’s arrangements will not continue in 2010.

It would be appreciated if this Approval to combine/transfer for external examinations application form(s) is returned attached to the 2010 GAT and VCE Examination Centre(s) form.    

Please photocopy the approval form if more than one copy is required.


2009 School’s Associated and Combined Centres Report – (Pink)

An annotated sample of the report has been included on the last page of this memorandum.

The information provided on the enclosed report summarises the examination centre arrangements for the written examinations and the GAT undertaken by students at your school during 2009. This report should be checked carefully before it is used as the basis for this year's examination centre arrangements. For most schools, the 2010 arrangements will remain the same as those in 2009. If all your students for a given study presented at another centre in 2009, then that centre's identification number and name are provided. 

If you now prefer your students to sit for that examination at a different centre to that named, you must make that request on Section B1 of the June and/or October/November 2010 VCE Examination Centres form.

If instead you prefer that your students sit for that examination back at your associated centre, you must make that request on Section B2 of the June and/or October/November 2010 VCE Examination Centres form.

If you were the host for another school(s) for a particular study, the report will indicate both the other schools’ code and the number of students from the other school(s) who attended your centre.

A list of all school codes and names can be accessed from VASS: [SCHOOL ADMIN®View School Details].

A row of asterisks indicates that in 2009 your school requested a change of examination centre for individual student(s) as distinct from a whole study. Individual moves will not automatically reoccur.

To assist schools that may wish to combine for examinations, a list of the schools offering VCE studies can also be accessed from VASS: [SCHOOL PROGRAM ®Unit 3/4 Home Schools].

NOTE: The 2009 hosting arrangements will only continue if in 2010 you have a written agreement with the other school(s).


 

Identification of Examination Centres

Examination centres are identified by a 6-digit number. The last five digits will be the VCAA school identification number of the host school. The leading digit will identify the type of centre as follows:

  1. School centre, where the centre is not shared with any other school.
  2. School centre shared by 2 or more schools.
  3. Country school which is 15 kilometres or more from the nearest VCE School offering units 3 and 4.
  4. Centre, external to the school, used by 1 school only.
  5. Centre, external to the school, used by 2 or more schools.
  6. Interstate centre.
  7. Overseas centre.

 

2010 GAT and VCE EXAMINATIONS SUPERVISORS (Green Form);

Relevant information about supervisors must be forwarded to the VCAA on the enclosed 2010 GAT and VCE Examinations Supervisors form byFriday 5 March.

It is imperative that:

  1. The front of this form is read prior to appointing supervisors.
  2. Prior to re-appointing supervisors, please ensure they are available, meet the VCAA requirements and that their contact details are correct.
  3.  All appointed supervisors are required to sign a Statutory Declaration. This must be done prior to work commencing. Five copies of the Statutory Declaration have been included with this memorandum. Please photocopy the Statutory Declaration if more are required.
    Signed Statutory Declarations must be retained at school in the VCE Document Register Folder.

Teachers or members of the administration staff at your school are not permitted to act as supervisors, this includes temporary staff who have worked in the school for more than 20 days in the current calendar year.

Should any changes and/or additions occur later, it will be necessary to notify the VCAA by completing the ‘Additional Supervisors’ form available on VASS. [SYSTEM ADMIN > Downloads].

Supervisor Allocation Rules

The VCAA does not fund examination supervision costs when fewer than ten students from only one school are scheduled to present at an examination centre for a specific examination session. We recommend that you combine with one or more other schools for one or more examination sessions, particularly when fewer than ten students are enrolled in a study at your school. If schools do combine the VCAA will fund the supervision, even if the combined number of students is fewer than ten.

Supervisor allocation rules are as follows per examination session:

 Examination Centre ID code (leading digit of the centre code - ie 201001)

      

2 School centre, where the centre is not shared with any other school

Fewer than 10 students - the school is to meet the cost of supervision unless the school combines with another school(s).

The VCAA will meet the cost of:

  • 10 – 70 students - 1 chief supervisor and 1 assistant supervisor
  • 71 – 140 students - 1 chief supervisor and 2 assistant supervisors
  • 141 – 200 students - 1 chief supervisor and 3 assistant supervisors
  • 201 – 260 students- 1 chief supervisor and 4 assistant supervisors
  • 261 – 320 students- 1 chief supervisor and 5 assistant supervisors
  • 321 – 380 students - 1 chief supervisor and 6 assistant supervisors
  • 381 – 440 students - 1 chief supervisor and 7 assistant supervisors
  • 441 + students - 1 chief supervisor and 8 assistant supervisors

3 School centre shared by 2 or more schools

As for 2 except that, for groups with fewer than 10 students, the VCAA will fund:

  • 1 chief supervisor only - schools are expected to provide relief support

 

4 Country school which is 15 kilometres or more from the nearest VCE school

As for 3

5 Centre, external to the school, used by 1 school only

As for 2 except that, for groups with fewer than 10 students, the VCAA will fund:

  •  1 chief supervisor and 1 assistant supervisor, the VCAA will NOT pay hall hiring fee

6 Centre, external to the school, used by 2 or more schools

            As for 5 except that the VCAA may pay an approved hiring fee for a hall, but not the cost of furniture hire, cartage and/or setting up

7 Interstate Centre

No supervision entitlements - students must meet supervision costs

8 Overseas Centre

No supervision entitlements - students must meet supervision costs


Supervisor Payments

The VCAA provides schools with a grant to fund payment of supervisors based on the VCAA supervisor allocation rules.

The following are the current rates of pay for Chief Supervisors and Assistant Supervisors, associated with the supervision of examination sessions.

Chief Supervisor(CS):           $24.59 per hour and Assistant Supervisor (AS): $22.44 per hour

 

  • English, English (ESL) and GAT payment based on 6 hours work/session
    (CS = $147.54 & AS = $134.64)                                                       
  • Exam 1 for Mathematical Methods (CAS) and Specialist Mathematics payment based on
    2 hours work/session (CS = $49.18 & AS = $44.88)                                                      
  • All other studies payment based on 3 hours work/session
    (CS = $73.77 & AS = $67.32)     

Chief Supervisors will be paid an additional Chief Supervisor allowance for work associated with checking examination stationery and examination papers after delivery, preparation of examination materials, the packaging of response materials for courier collection and for the handing over of these materials to the courier. The Chief Supervisor allowance will be based on the total number of students presenting at a centre for each examination period.

The grant for payment of supervisors, including the Chief Supervisor Allowance, will be sent to schools prior to each of the examination periods in June and October/November via EFT transfer to an account nominated by the school. The supervisor allocation rules will be applied to determine the grant to schools.

The VCAA will pay Chief Supervisors’ expenses on receipt of a claim form and receipts - legitimate expenses are listed in the VCE Examination Manual.

Supervisors' grants do not include an allowance for setting up furniture in the examination centre. Principals are responsible for arranging the setting up of furniture in the examination centre.

Schools are to pay supervisors at the conclusion of the examination period.

 

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Multiple Rooms within an Examination Centre

Where schools are obliged to use multiple rooms for examinations, the VCAA will consider applications for extra funding for supervision on the basis of 20 students allocated to a room.

Schools requesting extra Supervisor funding must apply on the ‘VCE Written Examinations Application for Extra Funding 2010’ (Supervisors) form.

Hall Hiring

Schools requesting the VCAA to meet the hiring fee for a community venue (hall) must apply on the VCE Written Examinations Application For Extra Funding 2010 (Hall Hire) form.

The community venue (hall) must be shared by two or more schools.

The VCE Written Examinations Application For Extra Funding 2010 (Supervisors) and (Hall Hire) forms are available on VASS. [SYSTEM ADMIN® Downloads].  The application(s) must be forwarded with supporting documentation to the Project Manager, Examination Security, Assessment Operations, VCAA, 41 St Andrews Place, East Melbourne, 3002 on or before:

  • June examination period - Friday 26 March 2010
  • October/November examination period - Friday 23 July 2010

Student Assessment Timetable

It is the responsibility of the Principal to ensure that an individual Student Assessment Timetable is produced and distributed to each home school student enrolled in a VCE unit 3/4 sequence or Scored VCE VET unit 3/4 sequence. In the week beginning Monday 10 May schools will be able to use VASS to print confirmed June Student Assessment Timetables for each of their home school students and check that their students’ centre(s) are correct. The timetable can be printed in study or date order for each student.

[Student Program > VCE Reports > Student Assessment Timetables] 

You are also able to obtain two other written examinations summary reports from VASS:

  1. A report listing external examination centres your home school students are attending.
    [Student Program®VCE Reports®Examination Venues Not At Home]
  2. Report listing students from other schools for whom you are the host school for their written examinations. 
    [Student Program®VCE Reports®Host Examination Centre Summary]

Timetable Clashes

If a student has a timetable clash (two examinations timetabled for the same session), principals may lodge a request to schedule one of the examinations to another time on the same day. This request must be made in writing to: The Manager, Assessment Operations by Friday 23 July.


3 Examinations in 1 Day

If a student has three examinations scheduled on the same day, the VCAA will contact the school in writing outlining the options available for these students. Schools will be contacted in May 2010 for the June examination period and September 2010 for the October/November examination period.


VET

Students enrolling in a Scored VCE VET unit 3/4 sequence are required to attend the GAT.

Interactive Digital Media (previously Multimedia)- Schools should be considering examination centres/rooms for the VET Interactive Digital Media examination, keeping in mind the requirements for computers and CD ROM capacity.  Further information will be sent to schools early in Term 3.


CCAFL Written Examination – Tuesday 19 October (Collaborative Curriculum and Assessment Framework for Languages)

Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Bosnian, Croatian, Dutch, Filipino, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Khmer, Korean (first language), Korean (second language), Macedonian, Maltese, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Swedish, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian and Yiddish

The VCAA will seek information from schools, outline arrangements and establish CCAFL written examination centres early in Term 3.


Use of Compact Discs (CDs) in Written Examinations

The written examinations for Music Styles, Music Performance: Group and Solo, VET: Music Industry (Technical Production) and all LOTE including CCAFL will require students to listen to Compact Discs (CDs), except Latin, Classical Greek and Classical Hebrew.

These examinations require the school to provide a separate room (or rooms if there are two or more examinations in the one session) and the appropriate equipment for each examination.


AUSLAN  – Wednesday 27 October

Schools are NOT required to organise a centre for the AUSLAN examination.

The VCAA will allocate a centre for students enrolled in AUSLAN and schools will be notified in writing in the week beginning Monday 4 October.


Examinations outside Victoria

Closing dates are: June:  Friday 26 March and October/November:  Friday 23 July.

Students who are eligible and to whom the VCAA gives permission to present for examinations and/or the GAT at centres outside Victoria will be required to pay a service fee for the administration of examination materials from the VCAA to the nominated supervisor.

Service fees are:

  • $71.00 - Interstate, per written examination period.
    Interstate applicants must be supervised at a Secondary School.
  • $211.00 - Overseas, per written examination period.

Applications will not be finalised until the appropriate fees are paid.

Students are responsible for paying directly to the supervisor any supervision fee required and the cost of returning the response materials immediately to the VCAA by security mail or courier.

Eligibility Rules are printed on page 109, section 9.10.1 of the VCE & VCAL Administrative Handbook 2010.

Applications must be made in writing by photocopying and completing the form on pages 200 - 201 of the VCE & VCAL Administrative Handbook 2010.


 

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GLOSSARY OF TERMS

  • Home School - Student’s major school.
    Responsible for ensuring that ALL their students have been allocated to an examination centre/room
  • Host School - School where the examination centre is located or School coordinating the arrangements for an external centre.
  • Assessing School - School/provider responsible for providing the assessment for one or more units for a student, where the school differs from the ‘home’ school.
  • Associated Centre - The main examination centre associated with the home school.
  • Combined Centre - A centre(s) with which alternative arrangements have been made.

 

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CLOSING DATES

Early notification is strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time for any necessary consultation between your school and the VCAA

Friday 5 March    

  • VCE Written Examination Centre Agreement Form
  • June Examinations and GAT Examination Centres (Yellow Form)
  • Please include the Approval to Combine/Transfer form where required.(Part of this memorandum)
  • GAT and VCE Examinations Supervisors (Green Form)

 

Friday 26 March 

  • June requests to sit examinations outside Victoria
  • Hall Hiring & Extra Supervisors – request for funding (June examination period)
    Application forms available on VASS

 

Friday 23 July

  • October/November Examination Centres  (Yellow Form)
    Please include the Approval to Combine/Transfer form where required. (Part of this memorandum)
  • October/November requests to sit examinations outside Victoria
  • Hall Hiring & Extra Supervisors – request for funding (Oct/Nov examination period)
    Application forms available on VASS
  • Timetable Clashes request for alternative time.

 

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ATTACHMENTS

 

Last Update: January 12, 2012